A
laneway house is a smaller, detached home located where the garage would normally
go on a single-family lot (RS zones). Laneway houses contribute to the overall
sustainability of the city. They give people more opportunities to live close
to where they work, shop, and play, and they make the city's urban lanes more
green, liveable, and safe. Laneway housing also contributes to the amount of affordable
rental housing available in the city. Laneway houses cannot be sold independently
of the main house on the lot, there is no separate title for a laneway house,
nor is it part of a strata lot (i.e. 1/2 duplexes, townhouse, or coach houses).
a property is not subdivided when a laneway house is built.

Vancouver
Sun Article

"Homeowners
line up for permits to convert garages to living quarters" -
By Rebecca teBrake, Vancouver Sun July 30, 2009

Almost
two dozen Vancouver homeowners lined up Wednesday to inquire about replacing their
garages with small second homes, a day after city council approved laneway housing.

The
plan, approved unanimously by council on Tuesday, makes nearly 70,000 single-family
lots potentially eligible to add a rental home to help out with the mortgage or
house grandparents, grown children or caregivers.

By
Wednesday, 23 homeowners had inquired whether they were eligible, kicking off
the application process, which includes am $899 permit fee.

The
homes are being touted by council and staff as an answer to Vancouver's lack of
available and affordable housing.

"Our
vacancy rate in our rental stock, in terms of our overall rental at 0.3 per cent,
is very, very low and unacceptable," said Coun. Raymond Louie. "People
that work in our city are having a very tough time living in our city. We are
hoping that these spaces will become more affordable and available for these people."

"This
is a very artful way to add density to the single-family neighbourhoods,"
said Brent Toderian, the city's director of planning.

Not
everyone loves the idea. Toderian said he heard concerns about privacy, parking
and congestion at meetings on the issue. The city only requires one parking space
for the entire lot, which could have a main house, laneway house and a basement
apartment.

Critics
doubt the plan will actually increase affordability. "How much will they
be paying to rent these laneway cottages and will that be affordable? In my view,
the only affordable housing is subsidized housing and we need lots of it and we
are not getting it," said Alicia Barsallo, a member of the Coalition for
a Liveable Vancouver.

The
city will monitor shadows, traffic patterns, privacy and noise levels once laneways
houses are built, with an official staff report coming after the 100th house is
up, Louie said.

Properties
eligible for laneway housing must have a minimum width of 33 feet. Properties
of that size can have a 500-square-foot home, while larger properties can have
a maximum 750-square-foot laneway house.

Homeowners
must retain one parking space on their lot, and a 16-foot buffer between the front
of the laneway home and the back of the main house. Toderian estimates 65,000
homes would meet these requirements.

Vancouver
resident Robbie Stewart has been itching to build a laneway house for months.

Stewart
and his partner want to downsize after their 16-year-old daughter moves out. Laneway
housing wasn't an option at first.

"We
initially thought it was living in a garage," said Stewart, who hasn't applied
with the city yet. "We had considered moving to a condo, but the problem
is we don't like condos. We love the area we live in."

When
the couple saw a model laneway home built by Smallworks at the home show this
spring, they knew it was the perfect solution. The couple is making plans to convert
their dilapidated 1945 garage into a beautiful.

Twenty-four
other homeowners are lined up to work with Smallworks, a design/build company
specializing in laneway houses. Smallworks co-owner Aaron Rosensweet said homes
generally cost from $125,000 to $175,000.

"You
are talking about these small cottages in the backyard rather than a garage,"
Rosensweet said. "To me it's a real opportunity to beautify those lanes and
make those lanes more like our public spaces."

City
councillors voted unanimously Tuesday to allow laneway housing in a bid to keep
families together and help aging homeowners stay where they are.

The
new bylaw  popular in other parts of the world, but new to Canada 
allows garages of single-family residences to be replaced by free-standing suites,
or so-called garden cottages.

Instead
of a house for your car, laneway houses will provide a house for your parent,
adult child, caregiver or a regular tenant.

It
provides people to age in their neighbourhood and stay in the neighbourhood that
they grew up in, Coun. Raymond Louie told The Province.

He
said the market will determine whether the added stock of housing will bring down
rents in Canadas most expensive urban area. I hope it will bring up
the vacancy rate, which Louie said was 0.3 per cent.

By
having more people living nearer their workplace, he said, it could also cut down
on commutes by car.

I
am thrilled that this has passed, said Coun. Suzanne Anton, the lone NPA
voice on council.

This
is a piece of the EcoDensity initiative, she said of an urban planning program
by the previous, Non-Partisan-Association-dominated council.

I
think it shows Vancouvers continued leadership in urban design and our continued
awareness of how to live better. These laneway cottages will help families, theyll
help people with their mortgages.

Before
the vote, staff reported to council most people who attended two public hearings
in the past week were in favour of the idea, but a substantial minority voiced
strong concerns about higher density in their neighbourhood.

I
am very concerned about their concerns, and thats why Im interested
in monitoring it, said Anton.

Council
voted to review the entire program after the first 100 applications have been
made to city hall.

Areas
of the city zoned for multi-family dwellings or apartments arent included.